THREE NEW PICTURES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18457, 21 July 1923, Page 12

THREE NEW PICTURES.

* -' . -..■-) FOR THE ART GALLERY. ;" ~i! I ' ..." 1| Atf ARTIST'S APPRECIATION, v | BI W. PAGE ROWB. l^llSt! , \> Three pictures have been purchased by $ ' . \ the City Council from the recent annual • ; " ' exhibition of ths Society of Arts nl '/ ■ presented to our Public Art Gallery. They "4j have now been hung, and we have reasori' to bo grateful to our city fathers for the '"'.'■'':' truly liberal conception which they taka i of their responsibilities in that (hey inelude therein the education of the people in art and the just encouragement of artists. Our gratitude is the greater in that the council has shown both courage' %\ and good judgment in their selection,' ■-<!' This matter of buildipg up a public col-. ,■ lection is beset with peculiar difficulties I '" and many > dangers. It is right, for instance, that artists -/, should be encouraged; it is wrong to do ' so if it involves adding to th& gallery ~-" . pictures which are unworthy of tthe col- , ' lection. It is righ'i that the collection ■ ■ should include pictures of New Zealand scenery; it is , wrong if, whatever maybe their topographical interest, their '•' artistic. value be doubtful. It is right to encourage citizens to present pictures to our gallery. It is wrong to accept them v if they have not real artistic merit, merely -J. out of regard for the importance of their donors, or for fear of discouraging futuregivers. The task of the authorities is no' I 1 easy one. " -• :i Now, it is more than likely that the . man in the street will find at'least two ■! of these pictures to be not altogether in',.\.. accordance with his preconceived ideas '"'-''' of what a picture should be. If he be disposed to inquire further into' ■ the matter, and he' is to be very strongly .. urged to do so for his own enlightenment v and enhanced pleasure, he will be wise V. to weigh and analyse that conception at the outset. When he does so he will find, .■ that his ideas- of what a picture should be are based upon a very undependable • " foundation, composed of sundry wholly, \ ■;.',' casual impressions i of such pictures as-,. .' happen to have claimed his passing atten- - tion from time to time. ' - ; This is obviously I an unreliable baais ,-, on which to build. It is reasonable to ask that he shall- learn something aboui,", art before he criticises the work of the ; ' j artist. - .... '■=

Miss Dobie's Sea Brethren. Let us consider Miss Dobie's "Sea Brethren." Many criticisms were 'ex-..>w pressed about this picture when it hung in the Society of Arts gallery, and I think £ it can be proved that they are based upon r a misconception of what may reasonably -->" be demanded of pictures in general. The horse has been saddled with most of the $4 adverse comments. It hsis been said that, its neck is too long, its head too small,' ;.' its legs badly shaped, and its skin in bad- ;i ; condition. Now one does not need the |§ knowledge of a judge of horses, to -know.;.||| that the length of neck and size of head vary almost indefinitely. ;■-" Therefore to ~"f say that one is too long or the other too • small is really .; to . say . that the animal '.-..1 i is not in accordance with personal prefer-'.|| ence, which is scarcely a valid reason. .■ ;.1 Of course, if head or neck -were so- out of m proportion as w be contrary to all com- [ mon knowledge, then they would certainly-,, .? be wrong; but in neither case can this >-j| be truly said. "■'■','■. '■ : '<W As to the shape of its legs and. its con-.;.v difcion, here again the criticisms are based | upon personal preference, which ' would, .£} prefer a horse ideal as to points and glossy \ji of coat. Why, then, has > the artist, M possessesed as she is of an intimate know-&jl ledge of horses, avoided these qualities?' Certainly net, because they presented dim- ,: cullies which she was unable to ■ solve. # ' ' The • choice was . deliberate. The in- «;' tention of ' the picture 'is not • to -J portray a "respectable" horse with ;'ag "conventional background. It has poetic | intention as every picture should. ■■ •■■ ; The same sea breeze that brings -sea ?M horses" into life permeates the ....-whole;':;] composition; the horse, with;its conscious j-j: power of free, ■' unfettered • • movement, re' '£< spondtng to the* same stimulus, becomes? *_yconscious of its "sea ,: brethren." -. Tfie'V picture is a poetic expression of freedom' of motion. ' If .the artist'had given ,us a;; well-' , groomed horse, with ideal points, ']' she : ' would have introduced at once a suggestion ;of a'human," and in this case, arti- || ficial element, : which would have been .; incongruous to the spirit of the picture. ; :.' There is another picture in the gallery ■ which nicely illustrates this point. In..'* CJalderon'e picture, No. 132, in the Mackelvie collection," to which he puts the title, '■■" On Sea-beat Shore,' where Thracians Tame Wild Horses," the animals are in the pink of condition and there is something, more than family likeness, - in thoir "make up and shape-" Their poses suggest study of the Parthenon friezes, rather than knowledge of life itself, and; the glorious suggestion of the ancient poet is smothered in conventionality. - Replaca • ■/ the horse in " Sea Brethren '!*■* with one ■■ of these sleek conamdqplacesiland where will be the affinity? r ~ $ Mr. Hollaby's Aratiatla Rapids.;... .:,.-■■ j v.-, Mr. ; Hellaby's picture of the Aratiatia! Rapids -has failed to appeal to : some' for ■< the same reason, a fundamental ! mis-' understanding as -to '.■ the ; province . cf art. It is not detailed or smooth enough for - the casual observer, who .c likes a picture 1 ; to be as literal and circumstantial as "the evidence before the Court." "But the artist is concerned with details only ■ so far as they help ]■ the spirit of the pic- • i ture as a i whole, ■,% He;, wants' to make - ; !i us feel the strong unceasing swirl of the water, and, as a counterpoise, the peaceful play of light ip^e ; background. His |l aim is to capture u&u pass on to us the' spirit of the scene, ■' 'so that our - imagin-' ■;, •* ations may call up for us, now one element, and. now another, of the beauty of - , the whole This picture is more than a summary of facts; it is a poem of ; mo- : ; tion. .

':,:;■•.; Mr. Nfcol's ■ Southern . Coastline. .. Mr. .. /Nicol's ; - picture, "A- Southern ; : Coastline," is not of the kind which challenges "the man in the street", to the-, extent ~of the foregoing paintings. But its finest quality : may be easily missed by the casual observer.., It is wonderfully ■ simple in treatment. .By '.;■ elimination or* *• fiiimmarißing of detail, by quiet emphasis • employed, this bit of coast-line, '" quite > unremarkable £> in its component ■ pa?ts ? is; made unique and becomes a' fresh revelation \ of nature. • ,We do not feel '.with; this as we do with so many weak compositions, that \ the artist might just as'well have shewn us more if his ' - canvas had been longer. It is complete "'.': in itself. . .

■V This "is very much - what we : have .observed .; in Mr. - Hellaby's' picture, and yet how different they are in manner of ex-' pression ! Herein is one of the great glories; of . Art. This difference is due to :.; difference . of . temperament, which causes ;; \ difference in point: of-view, • and therefore" l' method of approach. ■:■- Set six good artists : : to paint the same scene, and. each one'"will tell you a different story, though all tell the truth. , They will not emphasise the same features, they will not ■' include the same details. And if you actually attempt tr : make the experiment ' i? you would be disappointed since one or ;■.;." more of these artists would bo certain to - , decline to paint the, subject at all be-, : : : cause it would have no appeal for them \Z not because they saw mi beauty therein -J v not because they did : hot thrill to its ';?k charm; but "■ because you can no more - suggest; to these artists that they shall • ' all -paint; the same ; subject, v and / reason- i;ii£ ably expect them to respond, . than -you can expect the incoming tide to advance: >' in a: straight line. ■ ■ ' '- .- ■■: '*" V A certain, painter, who had taken up 4 ;£' his abode in an; English country town, -||;fr was constantly -asked why he 'did no*' 1 make a picture, of a fine old castle which *' was the most conspicuous object in the. neighbourhood. He always replied: ; cause I have not seen it yet," and people ?.;;: went' their ways musing on the foolishness of artists, for ; he.: saw the castle every ? " day. But one day he "''saw if." ?.;«!. •.; painted his picture and that painting re- ! vealsd to those who also had vision, some- ,'• :; thing they had; not' seen before, and. ibff' -. ancient castle -Henceforth told them a new' -.;.■ story which they had not known. » . ' ,-'